Doing the annual condition inspection and have the opportunity to get a good price for a 406mhz AK 451 to replace my existing 450 ELT (which seems to be working fine), after reading the installation manual and some threads here I have some questions:
1. Does the supplied whip antennae HAVE to be vertical, it looks about the same dimensions as the existing one that I have installed horizontally under the tail fairing so could fit in the same space.
2. Some posters said you have to replace the existing coax with the supplied coax, is this correct?
3. It seems from the manual that GPS position is only supplied if you connect the RS 232 to a GPS source, assuming it would accept the 496 data stream that drives the ADI 2 and the Dynon this would seem to mean that you have to switch the unit on before you crash so that the GPS position is included in the first burst transmission, is this correct? (I am assuming that normally the unit is off until either the unit is turned on or the impact switch is triggered). If the 496 stays on on battery power does it continue to output the RS 232 stream?
4. I normally fly with a SPOT with the SAR coverage, is the 451 upgrade worth the cost. I generally fly in the US, but if I had a wild hair and wanted to fly to Mexico or the Bahamas are the portable options?
Just trying to decide whether to do this mod now or not.
1. Does the supplied whip antennae HAVE to be vertical, it looks about the same dimensions as the existing one that I have installed horizontally under the tail fairing so could fit in the same space.
2. Some posters said you have to replace the existing coax with the supplied coax, is this correct?
3. It seems from the manual that GPS position is only supplied if you connect the RS 232 to a GPS source, assuming it would accept the 496 data stream that drives the ADI 2 and the Dynon this would seem to mean that you have to switch the unit on before you crash so that the GPS position is included in the first burst transmission, is this correct? (I am assuming that normally the unit is off until either the unit is turned on or the impact switch is triggered). If the 496 stays on on battery power does it continue to output the RS 232 stream?
4. I normally fly with a SPOT with the SAR coverage, is the 451 upgrade worth the cost. I generally fly in the US, but if I had a wild hair and wanted to fly to Mexico or the Bahamas are the portable options?
Just trying to decide whether to do this mod now or not.
